The Flags, Saint Mark's, Venice - Fête Day

c. 1903

Eugène Vail

Associated Names
Eugène Vail

Artist, American, 1857 - 1934

The image depicts a grand building with expansive arches and intricate details. Two large flags with red, white, and green colors are displayed. The brushstrokes are varied, capturing the texture of the fabric and architecture with an impressionistic style. The color palette includes warm yellows and golds, as well as cooler tones in the flags and shadows. Small groups of figures in the distance suggest activity and gathering.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gertrude Mauran Vail

  • Dimensions

    overall: 82 x 92.6 cm (32 5/16 x 36 7/16 in.)
    framed: 100 x 111.1 cm (39 3/8 x 43 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1973.1.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1857-1934]; his wife, Gertrude Mauran Vail, until 1948; on deposit with the National Collection of Fine Arts (now National Museum of American Art), Washington, D.C., 1948-1973; gift 1973 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1937

  • Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Vail, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, November 1937, no. 17, as St. Marks [sic] - Venice.

  • Exposition Eugene Vail, 1857-1934, Galerie Jean Charpentier, Paris, June 1937, no. 24, as St. Marc - Jour de Fête.

1938

  • Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Lawrence Vail, Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, 1938.

1939

  • Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Vail, American Fine Arts Society Galleries, New York, January-February 1939, no. 19, as St. Marks [sic] - Fete [sic] Day - Study.

  • Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Vail, Providence Art Club, Rhode Island, March 1939, no. 46, as San Marco.

1940

  • Eugene Vail, 1857-1934, Exhibition of Paintings, L.D.M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum, Portland, Maine, 1940-1941, no. 9, as San Marco, Fete [sic] Day.

  • Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Eugene Vail, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 1940, no. 11, as San Marco - Fete [sic] Day.

  • Possibly Paintings by the late Eugene Vail, Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire, November 1940, no cat.

  • Eugene Vail, 1857-1934, Exhibition of Paintings, Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts, Delaware Art Center, March 1940, no. 21, as San Marco, Fête Day.

1941

  • Eugene Vail, 1857-1934, Exhibition of Paintings, The Art Association of Newport, Rhode Island, 1941, no. 44, as San Marco - Fête Day.

1953

  • Extended loan for use by The White House, Washington, D.C., 1953-1963.

1974

  • Extended loan for use by The Supreme Court of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 1974-1982.

1984

  • Extended loan for use by The Supreme Court of the United States of America, Washington, D.C., 1984-1993.

2018

  • Extended loan for use by Ambassador Lewis Eisenberg, U.S. Embassy residence, Rome, 2018-2020.

Bibliography

1937

  • Providence Sunday Journal, 31 October 1937: not paginated.

  • Cann, Louise Gebhard. Untitled essay. In Exposition Eugene Vail. Exh. cat. Galerie Jean Charpentier, Paris, 1937: 17.

1939

  • Cortissoz, Royal. Exhibition review. New York Tribune, 29 January 1939: 8.

1940

  • Portland Sunday Telegram and Sunday Press Herald, Maine, 8 December 1940: not paginated.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 252, repro.

1992

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 371, repro.

1998

  • Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles. American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 207-209, color repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Eugene Vail

Wikidata ID

Q20190849

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